In Grozny, capital of Chechnya, Chicko, a franchise of street food South Korean, does not go unnoticed. And this restaurant offers much more than halal dishes. On the menu, we find: screenings of South Korean series, raffles of K-pop group albums, notably BTS, and the possibility of buying cards bearing the likeness of the stars of this musical genre.
At the head of this company: Tabarik Kadyrova, 20 years old, one of the daughters of Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of the Chechen Republic, which is part of the Russian Federation. Kadyrov had described “criminals” those who “promote Western values”, reminds the Russian information portal Let’s go again.
According to a survey conducted by The Moscow Times, Grozny Chicko is the only one of its type in Chechnya. The young woman holds the franchise’s exclusivity until 2031, according to the Russian intellectual property register. This quasi-monopoly position is not limited to the catering sector. The Russian media in exile also reports that she owns or holds shares in Vietnamese restaurants (Phobo), hair salons (Borodach) and cafes (Do. Bro Coffee).
In 2024, the Grozny town hall even awarded him the medal of “merit for the Chechen Republic” for his “commitment to entrepreneurship and the development of the economic attractiveness of the region”. Russian TV channel Current Time, based in Prague, however, clarified that one of its companies recorded a loss of 22 million rubles, or around 200,000 euros, at the end of last year.
A double standard
Officially, K-pop is frowned upon by the Chechen authorities, who consider it a vector of “Western values” and a threat to local traditions, explains The Moscow Times. In 2019, the screening of the documentary BTS : Love Yourself had also been canceled in several republics of the North Caucasus, including Chechnya and Dagestan, after threats from Internet users. The position of boys band South Korean in favor of the LGBT community had caused an outcry among residents, continues the Russian media in exile.
This rejection is not limited to K-pop. Russian independent media Hold man tells that in 2023 a mother from Grozny had to flee Chechnya with her children after the discovery, on her 14-year-old daughter’s phone, of an anime image showing two boys kissing. The case sparked a campaign of cyberbullying against the teenager, amplified by her teachers, who criticized her short haircut and piercing.
However, Tabarik Kadyrova’s restaurant escapes these rules of Chechen society. For the Russian language site Kavkaz Realii, (“Realities of the Caucasus”, a subsidiary of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty), this double standard can be explained by the special status of members of the Kadyrov family. “Kadyrov’s daughters enjoy many privileges: they attend concerts and make appearances in the press. They hold official positions and receive distinctions. But Tabarik nevertheless remains under the absolute control of his father. We know very well that she does nothing without his authorization,” observes Svetlana Anokhina, women’s rights activist and journalist, quoted by Kavkaz Realii.
“Training generations loyal to the regime”
This control of youth culture is a key power lever for Ramzan Kadyrov, according to North Caucasus analyst Harold Chambers. “The objective is to cut young people off from any foreign non-Muslim influence and to form generations loyal to the regime and the Kremlin,” he declared to the branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
For Svetlana Anokhina, this policy is reminiscent of practices from the Soviet era. “At the time, there was the Komsomol [Jeunesse communiste] and the Pioneers. Everything that came out was legitimate. But everything else aroused extreme distrust, because it was foreign, not Russian,” she analyzes in Kavkaz Realii.
